


Just Go Along With It

by tandum (orphan_account)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst too I guess, F/M, Fluff man just fluff, Oh yeah there's gonna be a lot of angst in this one, fake dating au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-14
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-05-01 13:19:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5207309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/tandum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They both left class at the same time. They both came back at the same time. It was only a matter of time before their classmates became suspicious.</p><p>Or </p><p>The one where pretending to be in love is the only way to actually stay in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> We all know it. The infamous Fake Dating AU. Get ready for loads of fluff and angst! I'll try to update every day. I need to get back into the knack of writing /somehow/.
> 
> *Edit: Oh God. People are still reading this, huh? I wrote the majority of this like two to three episodes in, so some facts (Marinette playing games, not knowing Mandarin, etc.) are incorrect because the episodes featuring those traits hadn't even aired yet. They were assumptions I made that turned out to be false... oh well. Before I come back to this fic, I'll edit those details out into the correct ones. Until then, please forgive me for the inaccuracies.

“Marinette, Adrien!”

They both glanced up from their respective seats, Nino and Alya looking up as well. Alix was sitting on the teacher’s desk cross-legged at the front of the classroom, hands on her knees and colored lips smacking around gum. Behind her was Kim and Max, both looking sternly at Marinette and Adrien.

“Um...yes?” Marinette said, eyes darting from Adrien to the group up front. Kim’s yell had been loud enough to gather the attention of the whole class -even Chloé had looked up from browsing her magazine, face puckered into a frown.

“We know your secret,” Alix said smugly, lips curling into a Cheshire grin. Marinette felt the blood drain from her face rapidly, thinking of the very big secret she was hiding. She didn’t know about Adrien, but Alix’s narrowed eyes was enough to make Marinette a nervous wreck.

Quickly throwing away her trembling nerves, Marinette demanded, “What secret are you talking about Alix?”

“Um, yeah.” Adrien finally said. “What are you talking about?” His voice was loud and clear, no hint of nerves in them and Marinette’s heart fluttered just a bit. Confidence was sexy after all.

“That you and Marinette are Chat Noir and Ladybug!” Kim yelled, stepping forward and jabbing a finger towards Marinette and Adrien.

Marinette thought the way her body jolted was just a bit too obvious, but she scoffed anyways, throwing in a good chuckle. “Oh really. Can you seriously see me vaulting all over Paris’ roofs like Ladybug does?”

“She does have a point you know,” Chloé said, face sneering. “She can’t even walk a straight line sometimes!” Marinette sincerely wanted to slap Chloé half the time, but she was grateful for the blonde’s disbelief anyways.

“But you and Adrien always leave whenever there’s an akuma attack! And you two are never here when Ladybug and Chat Noir show up! Unless you have some special plans, then I don’t see how you two aren’t them.” Kim was half-shouting and half-demanding.

That was a very good point. Marinette didn’t know Adrien always disappeared too, but she hadn’t prepared a lie for this situation. She hadn’t really thought this far into _what-if-my-identity-gets-discovered._

“Uhhh…” Marinette eloquently said, glancing at Alya for help.

Her friend took the cue. “You would think I’d notice if my best friend was Ladybug. _Hello_ , who runs the Ladyblog again?”

Grimacing, Alix quickly replied. “Ever heard of the saying _keep your friends close and your enemies closer_? Not saying Ladybug considers you an enemy, but it’s because Marinette is your best friend that you wouldn’t think it was her!”

Taken aback, Alya turned piercing eyes onto Marinette, the burning question _are you?_ churning the insides of Marinette’s stomach.

“ _Uhhh…_ ” she groused again, frantically trying to find a way out.

“And what about you Adrien. Have a good reason as to why you’re not Chat Noir?” Alix turned her steely gaze on Adrien, and the boy stiffened while Marinette finally breathed again.

“Of course I do. I’m sorry Marinette, I know we planned to keep it a secret, but it looks like the cat’s out the bag.”

_What?_ Marinette thought, meeting Adrien’s gaze as he smiled sweetly at her before facing the class.

“The reason Marinette and I keep disappearing together is because...well,” here he blushed some, driving Marinette’s heart into overdrive at how _absolutely adorable_ he was. “Well, ha ha, it’s because we’re dating.”

If the classroom thought it was shocked at this statement, Marinette was completely blown out of her mind from it. _WHAAAAT???_ She could feel the blush blooming furiously across her cheeks, face, ears, and neck. Even her fingers felt hot to touch as she desperately fought the urge to grab Adrien by his shoulders and shake his absurd reasoning from him.

Alix hummed thoughtfully. “That was my other idea. This was actually just a ruse to get you two to confess because it was so painfully obvious it hurt just to see you two. Well, then, congratulations!” Seemingly having lost interest, Alix left her perch on top the teacher’s desk and made her way to the back of the room as the rest of the class swarmed Marinette and Adrien.

“Since when?”

“How?”

“You two are so cute together!”

“Why did you hide it?”

All the questions sent Marinette’s head and heart pounding, and she thought she’d faint from it all. Wildly grabbing Adrien’s wrist, she quickly pulled him from his seat and around his desk, scurrying from the classroom with him in tow. He obliged, keeping pace as she frantically sought an empty private room they could talk in and _oh my god she’s holding Adrien’s hand_.

Finally finding an empty classroom, Marinette yanked Adrien in and shut the door behind her, leaning against it and breathing heavily. This couldn’t be happening. This was a dream. Not only was her identity at risk of being discovered, Adrien said they were dating _and_ possibly _knew_ she was Ladybug and decided to help her out by throwing himself under the bus with her. No, this couldn’t be real.

“W—why….w-why did you s-say that?” Marinette finally stuttered out, feeling even more mortified as her tongue flopped thickly and uselessly in her mouth. Come on brain, get your act together!

She ventured a glance at Adrien and stopped at what she saw. Beautiful blond Adonis, blushing because of her? No, no. Someone needed to pinch her.

“Ah,” he began, rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced at anywhere but her. “I, uh, needed a reason too. I’m not Chat Noir!” He said hastily, throwing his hands out and waving them in denial at her suspicious gaze, “but I do leave a lot for, uh, personal reasons. I’m sorry I said that, I panicked.”

She had panicked too but her first impulse hadn’t been to say she was dating Adrien! Marinette wanted to say this, but Adrien continued talking.

“I’m really sorry, you must hate the thought of faking a relationship with me, but I really can’t have them find out what I’m doing.”

“No, no! Nobody would hate the idea of dating you, in fact I lo-uh, no I-I d-don’t mind d-dating you,” she finished lamely, cheeks burning as she cursed him. _Get your act together girl!_ She breathed quietly for a moment and Adrien waited patiently, making her mortification burn even hotter. Staring at him, she cautiously ventured forth an “A secret even I can’t know?”

He shook his head, smiling at her ruefully. “It’s a big secret.”

Sighing, she shook her head and stepped towards him, folding her arms and resting her weight on one leg. “Well, I guess it’s only fair, since I can’t tell you my secret either.” His soft chuckle made her heart thump and soar because _she had made him laugh!_ And he looked too sweet then.

“I didn’t know you were such a good actor.” She said slyly, thinking as well _and such a good liar_.

As if sensing her unspoken thought, Adrien stared at her through slightly narrowed eyes. “I’m a model. I quite literally fake my emotions on a daily basis. It’s not too hard once you get used to it.”

Marinette thought that was a rather sad thing to say, even as nonchalantly as he had said it. Shrugging off the suddenly tense atmosphere, she glanced about awkwardly. “So what, now we pretend we’re dating because we don’t anyone else to know our actual secrets?”

“Yep,” the blond replied, stuffing his hands into his pockets and rocking on his heels. “Sounds about right.”

“This is ridiculous.”

“Oh Marinette,” and she shivered just a bit when he said her name, “where’s your sense of adventure?”

“Oh I’m getting a sense alright,” she muttered, coloring when he _hmm-ed?_  questioningly. “Nothing,” she said quickly, “Just losing my sense of dignity.”

He shot her a weird look before glancing at his watch. “Well, we’ve officially skipped class now, so do you want to get our backstory straight?”

Sighing, Marinette nodded and moved to sit at one of the desks.

Her heart twanged painfully, and she thought she could hear Alya snickering at her, because only _she_ could have gotten herself into such a wretched situation. Because now she was dating Adrien and had to pretend she liked him, while also pretending she didn’t really like him and actually really wanting to date him.

She screamed in frustration in her mind.

 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Adrien was less than pleased with himself. Sure, he could act pretty convincingly and he was pretty good at controlling his emotions, but Chat Noir was something so big and overwhelming that Adrien had overreacted, overcompensated, and had now landed Marinette and himself into this situation.

He glanced pityingly at her as she remained red-faced and focused on their cover-story. What if Marinette actually had someone she liked? What if this ruined her chances with her crush? What if she didn’t want to date anyone at all and was that frustrated at being pushed into this by his own selfish whims?

The guilt ate at his heart, but Chat Noir and Ladybug were bigger than the both of them, in what they did for the city and in what they symbolized. He was sure it’d only hurt if Chat Noir’s identity got revealed.

Quietly, Adrien asked, “Does it really bother you to be dating me?”

Marinette’s head shot up so quickly he wouldn’t be surprised if she got whiplash. Wide-eyed, she breathed, “what?”

Adrien desperately wanted to retract his statement, and so he pretended to have said something else. “Does meeting at a café sound too cliché?”

Blinking in confusion, he watched her focus on the topic instead, careful eyes watching him. “No, we go to the same school. It’s not too out there that we might have met at a nearby café during lunch one time.” She sighed softly, sweetly, eyes gazing somewhere that wasn’t here nor there and Adrien watched as she slipped away. “We got our meals at the same time but all the seats were full, so we sat next to each other. We started to talk and found we liked each other more than we let on. We began to meet there more often, soon moving onto to other nearby delis and cafes, spending more and more time together as we grew to like each other more. And then lunch time and after school wasn’t enough before we started to sneak out of class to see each other. But we couldn’t tell anyone because your dad was too strict and as a public figure you had to keep your relationship a secret.” Marinette _hmm-ed_ the kind of content sweet noise girls made when they found something particularly romantic, and Adrien couldn’t help the smile on his own face. How adorable.

“Wow, you have a really good imagination,” he remarked, more than impressed at how quickly she could string together a story for them.

“Oh!” She said, blushing and ducking her head. She laughed nervously, “it’s not weird or anything, right? Is…is there anything you’d want different?”

“Hm,” he said, resting his chin on his hand as he thought. “No, I think it’s all good. Okay, then how far have we gotten?”

“How _far?!_ ” She screeched, and Adrien quite suddenly realized that probably hadn’t been the best way to word it.

As flustered as she was, Adrien scrambled to make amends. “I mean, they’re going to ask for details! So…how far? Holding hands, hugging, kissing?”

“ _Kissing?!_ ” Her voice went so high it nearly disappeared, and if Adrien wasn’t as equally mortified he would’ve been amused to find how innocent she was.

He waited a few moments to allow her to compose herself, but no amount of time that passed helped decrease her blush.

Coughing, Marinette tried to reorient herself. “I guess…since we sneak off a lot we’ve kissed before. I-I mean, you wouldn’t sneak off just to hold hands, right?”

Adrien quietly kept the thought to himself that if a couple was sneaking off they were probably doing a lot more than kissing, but he nodded anyways. “Yeah. So, holding hands, hugging, kissing. Oh! We probably have each other’s numbers!”

“Oh,” she murmured, as if in shock.

“Here,” he quickly dug his cell out, grimacing when he noticed the two texts from Nino, before swiping clear the notifications and opening up a new contact page. “Tell me your number?”

She rambled off a number before also getting his.

“Um, A-adrien,” she started, and he nodded to show he was listening. “I…I can’t lie to Alya. Everyone else I could but she knows me too well.”

Nodding, he said he had figured as much. “It’s not right for you to lie to your best friend. It’s okay to tell Alya the truth.”

Seemingly relieved, she let out a held breath. “Ok, because she would have sniffed me out in a second.”

Adrien chuckled lightly before Marinette continued. “What about you? D-do...you want to tell Nino?”

At the reminder of his friend Adrien looked down into his lap, contemplating. He _wanted_ to tell Nino because he didn’t like lying to Nino, but then Nino would want to know why Adrien was always disappearing all the time. Then again, Nino hadn’t asked about it before...but no, now Nino was made aware of it because Alix’s shenanigans. _Uuugh, keeping an alter-ego is hard_.

“Yeah, I think I will,” he finally said, suddenly aware of how long he’d been silent, Marinette quietly watching him. He smiled self-consciously, rubbing the back of his neck. “I can’t really lie to him either.”

She smiled then, looking at him with a soft expression that Adrien didn’t quite know how to describe but that made his heart constrict tightly, sadly.

“Okay, let’s get to know each other better. I mean, if we’re d-d-dating, then we should know stuff about each other, right?” When he nodded she sucked in a deep breath and then said, “I’ll go first.”

“I’m the daughter of a baker, my dad is French and my mom is Chinese. I can speak both languages fluently, but I’m worse at writing French. I can bake pretty well since I grew up helping my dad, but  my dream is to become a fashion designer. My best friend is Alya, and my best subject is literature and math, but I’m absolutely awful at science. When I get nervous I stutter a lot, and, uh, blush a lot.”

“Um, ok. I’m all French, ha ha, and I’m a part-time model. I also fence, play the piano, and can speak Chinese. You know my dad, and uh, Nino is my best friend. Chloé is a childhood friend, and I’ve been homeschooled until I started here.”

She bit her lip and Adrien waited patiently as she struggled to find word. “Okay, so this is the basic stuff. Is there, uh, anything I as your g-girlfriend should, uh, know?”

_Oh_. Adrien hadn’t actually dated before, what with being home-schooled and all. He generally knew how the whole thing worked, having been exposed to such things as a model and living in _Paris_ in general. But, knowing and _knowing_ were two very different things and Adrien gulped suddenly at what having a girlfriend really entailed.

Thankfully, a bell rang then, notifying them of the end of school and so Adrien stood and stretched, one arm up high in the air and the other folded at the crook as he worked out crinks form stress. Sighing, he turned to face Marinette with a smile, holding out a hand at her suddenly confused gaze. “Why don’t we continue this over coffee?”


	3. Chapter 3

Along the way, he found out she liked coffee well enough - _it goes good with bread,_  she said- but herbal drinks were more her ‘cup of tea.’ Adrien’s cheesy mind had supplied the pun quickly enough but he held it back, not wanting to make himself out to be such a dork. With Nino it was fine, but somehow he didn’t want to make a wrong impression on his  _girlfriend-who’s-not-really-his-girlfriend_.

When softly asked, she confessed she had never dated before, shooting him an embarrassed look that endeared her to him.

“I’m sure you’ve been confessed to tons of times,” she groused out enviously, and Adrien winced because she wasn’t wrong, laughing lightly at her pout.

“Oh, I’m sure you’ve been confessed to before! How could you not be?”

Face flushing darkly, Adrien felt even more amused at her reaction. There were some people who were just born to be teased, he thought. Marinette’s reactions made him crave discovering more.

She waved it away with airy denials, and he didn’t miss the grateful look on her face when they finally reached the cafe. “We’re here!” She said too quickly and he chuckled again, earning another pout from her.

It was just a bit crowded from most schools having ended already, students swarming and chatting in couples and groups. “Why don’t you get us a table while I order our drinks?”

“Oh,” she said, taken aback. “I can’t let you pay for me!”

He gave her a deadpan stare. “Marinette,” and when she jerked Adrien wondered if his tone sounded too harsh, so he spoke his next words more softly, “we’re  _dating_ , no? Don’t worry  _ma chérie_ ,” he said, trying to make the words sound natural because they were dating and people who dated said that, right?

If the color on her face was any indication, Adrien figured he was right, and he took the opportunity to steer her towards a table tucked into an alcove while wheedling her drink from her. He waited patiently for their drinks to be made, keeping a side-eye all the while on Marinette’s blushing face and thinking that of all girls to be stuck in this situation with, he was glad it was her.

_At the very least she doesn’t hate it…and it’ll be fun too._

Retrieving their drinks, he quickly made his way across the crowded room, carefully balancing the hot beverages while keeping an eye on the many table and chair and people legs that could trip him.

Seemingly having recovered from his attack from earlier, she thanked him for the drink and took a cursory sip, brilliant blue eyes focused on his and Adrien quite suddenly realized that their table being in an alcove gave them the illusion of privacy he wasn’t quite used to having with people. Clearing his throat, he took a sip of his coffee and winced when he scalded his tongue, sticking the injured member out while he quickly set his coffee down.

Marinette giggled at his antics and he smiled shyly, glad to have made her laugh even at the cost of his stinging tongue.

“You’re very graceful,” she said abruptly, and he couldn’t help the eyebrow he quirked at her. She waved distractedly at the room behind them. “I would’ve totally tripped if I tried to walk through that while carrying drinks.”

Tons of adjectives had been used to describe him before - _handsome, gorgeous, beautiful, cute, pretty_ , even- but never  _graceful_ , and he thought it was nice to be called that.

“I better be,” he joked, “I don’t fence for nothing.”

“Let’s see,” she said, leaning forward with her elbows on the table. “You fence, play the piano, speak Chinese,” as she said each one she ticked a number off her hand. “Tell me,  _mon cœur_ ,” and Adrien blushed furiously as he realized why, exactly, Marinette had grown so flustered earlier, “what do you do in your free time?”

“U-uh,” he stuttered, willing his thick tongue to work and praying his voice wouldn’t crack due to his sudden nerves. “I, um, play. Video games! I play video games. And basketball. For fun, I’m not in any sport or anything like that,” o _h just kill me now and bury me six feet deep,_  he moaned in his mind.

“Hmm,” she said, taking a quick sip and giving him a brief respite. “What kind of games do you play?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, leaning back into his seat as he pondered. “Mostly adventure games, some fantasy. I like action a lot, so I’m not too fun of the ones based on strategy.” He felt disheartened, however, when he looked up and found her face blank of understanding. “You don’t play games, huh?”

She grinned sheepishly before confirming it and suddenly Adrien felt foolish for being so nervous in the first place. “But,” and his head shot up, green eyes clashing with blue. “I’d like to know. Could I play? Play one of your games!” Her face was slowly growing redder and Adrien felt so endeared, so enamored in that moment with this flustered girl playing along with this intricate game of theirs that he couldn’t help the soft smile on his lips.

“Of course Marinette,  _ma chérie,_ ” he said kindly, delighted when her eyes darted down and her ears tinged pink.

Over the course of an hour they talked and laughed, slowly getting to know either other -their quirks and their hobbies, what they liked and disliked, and even their mannerisms, how Marinette glanced sideways nervously before glancing at him, how her fingers twiddled with the rim of her cups and how she bit her lip when something he said made her particularly embarrassed. He wondered if she was watching him like he was watching her, or if maybe that was peculiarity born from a life of always trying to please others.

His phone trilled angrily and he sighed, cutting Marinette short of what she was saying. She was watching him curiously as he dug his phone from his bag and read the short message from Nathalie. He had a modeling shoot to get to.

“What’s wrong?” Marinette asked, hands still wrapped around her surely chilled drink.

He waved his phone as he spoke, “I have to go model now.” He liked modeling, he did, but sometimes it did feel like a job whenever he was having fun.

“Oh,” she said, before brightening. “Can I come watch?”

“Huh?!”

She laughed a little, leaning back and nervously tugging on the ends of her hair. “I think it’d be really cool to see you model, and I’ve never seen an actual shoot. Well, not from close anyways.”

Adrien grinned, pleased that she wanted to continue spending time with him. “Yeah, that would be awesome! Let me text my driver to pick us up here and then we can go!”

A short while later Adrien received a message that his driver was here and Marinette and he threw their trash away and grabbed their bags.

Before exiting the cafe a sudden mischievous spark ignited in Adrien and he grinned slyly down at Marinette, quickly grasping and locking their hands together and tugging her close.

“Hwah!” She squeaked and he laughed at the sound. She turned wildly to face him, face enflamed.

He leaned down to whisper in her ear, not missing the way she shuddered. “We should hold hands. We’re dating after all,  _ma chérie,_ ” he said softly, feeling a shiver of his own wrack through him as he felt how warm she was. He squeezed back when she gripped his hand firmer, and he would’ve denied it with all his being that his heart didn’t give a painful thud then.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: ma chérie - my dear
> 
> mon cœur - my heart


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you get cavities from this because I almost did

Marinette watched, committing every moment to memory. Adrien was modeling, right before her very eyes! It struck her, then, that she was dating him, blond Adonis and handsome teenage heart throb. He could fence, play the piano, speak Chinese, and  _model_  and all Marinette had going for her was that she was Ladybug and Adrien couldn’t even  _know_  that.

Sighing, she leaned back on her hands on the grassy knoll, still watching dreamily as Adrien smiled beneath a weeping willow. She could see why all of Paris loved the boy, with his sunny sweet smile and his brilliant emerald eyes. Marinette was sure that no what time, where, or how, she’d always fall for him.

Her phone buzzed and she dropped her gaze down to the device, finally remembering all the other notifications she had recieved earlier and had elected to ignore in favor of trying not to embarrass herself in front of Adrien. Unlocking her phone, she thumbed through Alya’s messages.

_Alya: Where did you and Adrien go? The whole class is talking about and Chloé looks ready to kill you!_

_Alya: Are you really dating him? You’re not, right?_

_Alya: You would have told me, right?_

_Alya: Nino said he didn’t know either. Were you both keeping this a secret or did Adrien just make it up?_

_Alya: Why have you been disappearing all the time anyways?_

_Alya: Are you with him right now?_

_Alya: You probably are lol that’s why you won’t answer your phone_

_Alya: We’re so talking later_

Marinette cringed. Oh, was she going to get an earful later. Looking up, she judged Adrien to still be busy and decided to call her best friend quickly.

The line barely rang for twice before Alya picked up. “ _Are you with him right now?!”_ The brunette screeched, making Marinette wince and hold her phone away.

“Yes,” she sighed, bringing it back. “Before you start! We are  _not_ dating,” the words were firm but sad and Alya’s dejected  _aww_  didn’t help. “He, uh, doesn’t want to say why he’s sneaking away all the time. He said it’s really personal and that he panicked when Alix asked him.”

“ _Personal?”_ Alya parroted. “ _Personal how? Maybe he has a sickness and needs to administer medicine, like diabetes? That would explain how frequently he leaves.”_

“I don’t know, but I don’t really want to assume anything. Alya, I’m watching him model right now, what do I doooo?” She whined, slouching forward and resting her forehead on her knees. She missed the worried look Adrien shot her way.

_“Wait, so let me get this straight. You two are fake dating?”_

“Yes,” she said miserably.

“ _Oh darling,_ ” Alya coo-ed, clucking her tongue.  _“I would say that’s awesome but it probably sucks, huh?”_

“It’s, it’s like someone giving you a bite of heaven and then taking the rest away.” Marinette moaned further into her knees, as if they could swallow her whole and take her away. She peered up quickly, making sure he was still busy before hurriedly whispering, “he keeps calling me  _ma chérie_  and it’s  _killing_  me!”

“ _He’s calling you what?!_ ”

Alya’s voice was so loud Marinette worried that Adrien could hear and she scrambled to lower the volume, speaking in hushed tones. “He’s calling me  _ma chérie_ and oh Alya what am I going to do?”

“Um, Marinette?”

Gasping, she shot upwards, losing her balance and pinwheeling her arms desperately to not fall flat on her face in front of Adrien. Once she had some semblance of control over her limbs again she properly looked at him. “Y-y-yes Adrien?”

He was a smiling an odd little smile, and Marinette couldn’t help but notice how his hair shone like the sun, catching facets of light in every tilt of his head and how green his eyes were, rivaling even the most beautiful of gardens in summer.

“They’re breaking for lunch and I was wondering if you wanted to grab something to eat?”

“Oh yes, I could  _definitely_  eat something, I mean, some food and not-oh no, uh. Yeah. Food sounds great right about now.”

Suddenly a tiny voice caught her attention and she remembered Alya. When she placed the phone back to her ear she caught the tail end of  _“oh girl you have it bad.”_

“Uh, bye Alya I’ll talk to you later!” Her friend was still laughing when she hung up.

When Adrien held his hand out she stared blankly at it. He gave her an indulgent smile. “Let’s go Marinette,” and he reached out and grabbed her own hand, tugging her gently behind him and politely not commenting when Marinette’s hand spasm-ed just a bit.

He was warm, his skin soft in some places and callous-ed in others - _from Fencing, I guess_ \- and she marveled at how slender his fingers were, slotting easily against her much smaller hand. She remembered fondly her father’s hands, then.

“What are you thinking of?”

Lost in nostalgia, Marinette answered without thinking. “Just remembered when I held hands with my dad. His are so big that it hurts to hold hands -comes from being a baker-, but yours are so nice and warm and comfy.”

Then the realization and mortification of what she had just said flooded her mind and her heart thumped unsteadily because what if he thought she was creepy because she liked holding his hand so much when they weren’t even actually dating?

But he squeezed her hand and tugged her a bit closer, a gentle smile creasing his eyes. “Thank you. I’ve never really held hands a lot, so I’m glad it’s not weird or anything.”

Marinette remembered, then, that Gabriel Agreste was more distant than he should be and that Adrien had been home schooled and that the fake tender touches he got during modelling could never shape up to the actual thing. She thought of her own parents and of Alya, the hugs and pats and soft kisses on cheeks and foreheads, and even of Chat, teasing lips pressed to her hands. Marinette was showered in affection, and while Adrien certainly held many hearts how many had taken the time to see his?

Determined to be a good girlfriend, even as a fake one, gave her the courage to slip her fingers free, weaving them between his slender ones and giving him a bashful smile because,  _dammit_ , Adrien Agreste didn’t deserve cold touches from anyone, least of all Marinette.

“Holding hands is always nice, and a-as g-girlfriend and b-boyfriend we can do it often. I-if you want.”

His wide gaze and hopeful smile sent Marinette’s heart into overdrive and she fervently wished that nobody had seen  _that_  smile yet because as his girlfriend - _fake_ , her mind whispered- she deserved some kind of exclusivity, right? Right. 

Adrien wasn’t allowed a long break, but it didn’t take long to find a deli and procure some sandwiches they took back outside, resting on a park bench nearby. It was Spring and the world was awash in gentle colors that Marinette thought complimented Adrien’s eager green gaze wonderfully. The artist within her couldn’t help but think of color swatches as she mindlessly gazed at him, forgotten sandwich held loosely in her fingers. 

It was hard, she thought, to  _not_  notice his body. Fencing must do wonders, or maybe it was just his genes - _our kids will be so blessed_ \- because the lines his back drew and the curve of his arms made Marinette want to trace them, know them, memorize them before anyone else could. They were only fifteen and damn could she not wait until he got older because she was sure future Marinette would take one look at him and just faint dead away.

“Is there something on my face?” Adrien asked her, self-consciously swiping a hand over his mouth.

“No, not your face,” she mumbled distractedly only to finally snap her eyes  _to his face and away from his body_. Oh no. He knew. There was no way that cocky grin and self-satisfied smirk could mean anything else. 

“Oh, uh, oh no.” She said hysterically. 

He laughed then, and Marinette couldn’t help but gaze at the way his lips curled and his eyes creased, green gaze barely noticeable and cheeks flushed. “Oh  _ma chérie_ , I’m a  _model_. I’m used to people looking. Except, well, not so  _obviously_ ,” and oh god could she just find a hole and stay there? For, like, the rest of her life?

“I-I’m sorry I just couldn’t help myself and and and uuuh you can look at me if you want but who am I kidding why would you want to look at me and I can’t believe I just suggested that and can you please just act like I didn’t say anything at all, that we’ve just been siting here in complete silence please?” She squeezed her eyes shut, like the way little kids believed that if they couldn’t see you, then you couldn’t see them.  _Ladybug luck just make me invisible, please_.

“Hmm…okay.”

“Okay?” she repeated, confused, eyes still squinted shut in embarrassment.

“ _Chérie_ , open your eyes and look at me.” Something in his voice was warning her, sending a sharp jolt down her back and telling her she would regret this but he sounded so warm, like the way the heat from a fire in winter feels, and she turned reluctantly, eyes opening to find his staring intently at hers.

“Just hold my gaze, okay? You said I could look all I want.”

Marinette thought the squawk that left her mouth told Adrien quite eloquently how she felt about  _that_  but put it into words anyways. “I didn’t actually mean that!” She moaned, beyond embarrassed and he was laughing now, giggling in child-like joy and Marinette was amazed and breathless all over again, enchanted by his laughter.

“It’s only fair,” he retorted, and Marinette couldn’t really argue because she _had_ been staring. So she took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, faced him - _why did she do that they’re on a bench and there’s only so much space and their knees are knocking together, warm and_ \- she opened her eyes.

“There, now stay like that. Just like this,” and his voice was soft and warm and somewhat distant, because all she could focus on was how fast and hard her heart was beating, like she was terrified and thrilled and breathless all at it once and it didn’t know what to do, trying to leap from her chest into the hands of the boy before her, because his eyes were so so green, with flecks of gold around the iris and his lashes long against his cheeks when he blinked, and had Marinette even blinked because she couldn’t tell anymore.

Slowly, his gaze left hers, and despite his instructions she closed her eyes and shuddered because she could  _feel_  where he looked, and, the best part? His eyes never traveled lowered than her chin, just focusing on her and only her and she was sure her heart would just up and give out because it was racing for its life in her chest.

The quiet buzz of his cell shocked them both, and she could feel his jump through her thighs and when had they scooted that close?

She gasped and felt somewhat relieved and somewhat annoyed that their lunch break was over. Packing their things, it was much easier to slip her hand in his, fingers interlacing and his thumb rubbing the back of her hand.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please keep Paris in your thoughts. What happened is awful, and it really breaks my heart. I wish them all the luck and that there are no more deaths.

The photoshoot ended quickly and Adrien offered to walk Marinette home. She had been nice enough to stay during his job -which, admittedly, was pretty boring when you were only watching. He said as much out loud and felt surprised when her eyes grew wide.

“Boring?” She repeated. “How could it possibly be boring! I didn’t realize so much went into modeling -not to say that I ever thought it was easy but...if someone asked me to model some clothes I wouldn’t be able to do half of what you did!”

Adrien flushed in pleasure, rubbing the back of his neck and turning away from her earnest eyes as they walked. Compliments were always nice, especially when they weren’t focused solely on his face. “Thanks,” he said. “But that goes for you too. I never really thought too much into what went into fashion. I just wore the clothes. But ever since I saw all your sketches for the bowler hat it made me realize that designing takes a lot of work.”

She smiled prettily, eyes shining at his compliment. “It doesn’t feel like a lot of work. I love to design, so the time flies whenever I’m sketching, though I do get frustrated when I can’t get the exact design down.” Her brows puckered a bit, eyes seeing something that wasn’t there and he wondered if she was thinking of a design right now.

Feeling the lull in conversation, he remembered their predicament. “So...us dating.”

He saw and felt the jolt her shoulders gave as she whipped around the face him. “Right,” she said a bit breathlessly, her arms swinging to fold behind her back. “Us dating.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, watching her blue eyes widen. “If you really feel uncomfortable with this we can quit. I don’t want to force you or anything.”

She was shaking her head already as she tugged him away from the middle of the side-walk and towards a building. “I don’t mind,” she whispered, looking at anywhere but him. “It’s okay. I want to help you.”

“You’re so nice,” he blurted out. “I don’t know if I could be that selfless.”

She laughed, turning away from him and holding her sides. “Selfless! Oh, I don’t really think I’m being selfless or nice.”

He was confused but he refrained from commenting. Was she being modest? Maybe that was it. Sometimes the things she did confused him but he smiled anyways. They were no less amusing.

They began walking again and soon the store-front of her bakery came into view and she stopped a little whiles away. “Uh, if my dad sees me with you he’ll want to meet you. Since...since we’re not actually dating you don’t have to go through the trouble of meeting my parents.”

“Oh, ok. I don’t mind though?”

Marinette shook her head and laughed. “This is complicated enough at school. If I bring it home I’m sure it’ll just get even more confusing for us.”

He nodded. “Okay then. It was nice spending the afternoon with you.”

Her laugh was more awkward and polite than out of any real humor, but she turned sparkling eyes on him anyways. “I-I had a nice time too, Adrien. I’ll see you at school?”

He nodded and was saying good-bye before a mischievous thought wiggled its way into his mind and he caught her wrist as she turned away, trying to will away the cat-like smile teasing the corners of his lips. “Marinette! What time do you go to school?”

She rambled a time off nervously, probably startled by his sudden change, and he bid her _adieu_ , whistling a jaunty tune as he walked away because while he never thought of dating Marinette this could be fun and he was going to enjoy it.

After all, he loved Ladybug and this was all just a ploy to hide his identity. And Marinette understood, didn’t she? That none of this was real and would all be over with soon enough.

_-/-_

The next morning as he was getting ready it occurred to him suddenly that he needed a good reason. Hunting around, he eventually found a pastel yellow notebook of Chloé’s ( _so you can remember me every time you use it_ , she had said) and tucked it under his arm as he shrugged his bag on and slipped into his shoes.

“I hope you know,” Plagg began, lazily floating and dropping crumbs of cheese along the way, “that this entire thing is ridiculous.”

“Plagg you think anything that’s not cheese is ridiculous,” Adrien huffed, tying his laces.

“Of course,” the Kwami jeered, finishing the rest of his snack in one gulp. His next words were muffled as he spoke. “Fweese if da beft!”

The blond shook his head in disgust before indulgently ushering Plagg into his bag, the ever ready tin of cheese following. “Don’t open that thing in my bad again!” Adrien scolded. “It smelled so bad that our locker room smelled like roses in comparison!”

The dark sprite poked his head out. “What do you mean?! Cheese smells wonderful!”

Scoffing, Adrien flicked his room lights off and bounded downstairs, outside, and into his limo. “Morning!” he said cheerfully to the driver, “I actually have to go visit a friend this morning.” He waved Chloé’s notebook in the air. “A friend of mine left their notebook behind yesterday and they really need it before class starts.”

His driver nodded understandingly, asking for directions. Once Adrien mentioned Marinette’s bakery the driver chuckled and waved the rest of the instructions off. “Everyone knows where   
Paris’ best bakery is.”

Adrien smiled as he felt pride by proxy enfuse within him. Sure, he and Marinette weren’t _that_ close ( _yet_ , his mind whispered) but the feeling was there nonetheless. It was odd, he mused, because it wasn’t something he felt often.

When people complimented his father, sure, he felt happy and proud, but always there was the niggling thought that all of Gabriel’s accomplishments had been achieved at the expense of a normal life with his son. And once that thought was there Adrien no longer felt happy but bitter.

But he could feel the gaze of the driver on him, and so he smoothed his features out into a pleasant blank look. If Adrien looked “upset” no doubt Nathalie would find out and that would just devolve into endless pestering. Pampered protected heir that he was, Adrien wasn’t allowed a reason for being upset.

Before the limo could get too near the bakery Adrien requested to be let out, his reasoning being “I don’t want to cause an issue having a big car like this parked in front of their store.” The driver acquiesced, but Adrien still felt his gaze on him as he walked away, making sure Adrien was really heading towards the bakery.

The cheerful chime over the door reminded the blond that he should leave his negative emotions behind as he approached the counter. Behind it stood a very large man Adrien knew to be Marinette’s father.

“Welcome!” He greeted, voice loud and robust and deep like a hearth. “What a good morning, non?”

Adrien laughed, tickled by the man’s cheerfulness. “Yes _monsieur_ , it’s very beautiful today. A lovely day to have some of Paris’ best baked bread.” His grin turned cheeky when the man laughed, pleased by Adrien’s flattery.

“Ah, flattery will get you nowhere my boy,” the baker teased, but even as he rung up Adrien’s order of a few croissants it didn’t miss the blond’s eye that a few more were snuck in. This light-hearted exchange swelled in his heart and he knew it was on his face in that way when emotions overwhelm you and you can’t help but leak it out through eye creased smiles.

There was a gasped “Adrien!” and he turned to find Marinette descending some stairs from behind the counter, eyes wide and hands clutching the strap of her purse.

“Good morning,” he said cheerfully, pleased by her surprise. He shook the bag of bread jauntily. “I thought I’d grab some breakfast.”

“I remember now! I thought you looked very familiar,” her father said, leaning and peering at him more closely. “You are one of my Marinette’s classmates! Why didn’t you say so? Here, here, take this. Just bread isn’t good enough for breakfast!”

“Papa!” Marinette said, following her father as he disappeared and reappeared from the back, another bag given to Adrien who started to stutter that he couldn’t accept it.

“Nonsense! It’s just some cheese and ham. Enjoy it! Now, off you two go, or you’ll be late! Tell Alya I said hello, yea?”

“Yes Papa. Bye!” The brunette said, struggling to get the words out before she yanked Adrien out and down the street. “Oooh that was mortifying.” She moaned, dragging her hands down her face.

“Really? I thought it was nice,” he replied, eyeing the bags of bread and cheese. He felt a thump against his thigh from Plagg and he lightly patted his back, trying to tell the kwami to hush.

Marinette seemed to struggle with something before she sighed and smiled. “No, you’re right.”

“Besides, now we can share with Alya and Nino too!” Casually, as if it was normal, Adrien switched the bags from his left hand to his right, his now free hand grasping gently at her wrist and sliding down to lace their fingers together. He felt her stiffen with surprise and he leaned down to whisper, “We’re almost near the school.”

“O-oh, r-right,” she stuttered, cheeks dusted with pink. “School, the dating. Right. I thought it was all a dream,” she said, laughing self-consciously and gripping his hand tighter.

Hm _hmm_ -ed, “It is a bit absurd,” he agreed, eyes far away. He didn’t notice the tiny jerk her shoulders gave or the way her hand tightened and loosened just a bit, preoccupied as he was.

“I told Alya last night and she freaked,” Marinette confessed absentmindedly, her gaze focused on a patch of flowers they passed. Adrien tightened his grip and she turned to look at him. “She said you were ridiculous.”

He laughed at that. “Someone else said the same thing. But I really can’t have people find out about this secret.”

She was silent, for a moment, before asking, “Is it dangerous?”

_Yes_ , he thought, _I risk my life for the safety of Paris as Chat Noir_. But, like always, his well-trained tongue and polite facade answered Marinette instead. “No, but it’s a bit of my life just for me. Hard to get a lot of alone time when I model and do all these other things.” The hand holding the bags gestured vaguely in the air, the paper crinkling. “I think I’d go crazy without it.”

“So long as you’re okay,” she replied, and at Adrien’s confused look she elaborated. “I couldn’t really feel at ease knowing you were in danger.”

The words, carelessly and honestly spoken, infused warmth throughout Adrien because he _still_ wasn’t used to simple, sincere, affection like this. He craved it, he knew, which was why he earnestly and always showered Ladybug with affection because she returned it in her own caring smiles and teasing jokes. How she grinned like the sun when she saw him, happy just from _seeing_ him. Perhaps getting a girlfriend might have solved this issue, but Adrien knew that he didn’t want empty affection.

“Adrien?” Marinette questioned, tone soft. His face must probably reflect his thoughts so he quickly donned a smile.

“You’re quite blunt,” he said abashedly, embarrassed for her sake.

“ _I’m_ blunt! You shouldn’t be talking _mon coeur_.” Her grin was all the-cat-who-ate-the-bird, and Adrien felt his face inflame because _honestly_ he had started this so he should be able to take it but _damn it_ he did not realize Marinette could dish out what she got. Still, a game was a game and he wasn’t going to lose.

“Really, _ma chérie,_ are you sure you want to play this? We are about to enter the school.”

Adrien had a point. Though they were fake-dating _Adrien_ wasn’t really this affectionate. He was pretty sure if her called Marinette _ma chérie_ in front of the class they would all faint. Even with _Nino_ he wasn’t this affectionate, though he reciprocated all the hugs and nudges the other boy initiated, it was somehow hard for Adrien to escape this facade of his he had built. He knew if his father saw him there would be a dark deep frown marring his face at their joined hands and pet names.

Still, Adrien wanted to enjoy this _for once_. Like he let loose for Chat Noir, this fake-dating between Marinette and himself was related and so the carefully wrapped personality that came out in his vigilante persona peeked out every time she blushed and muttered about his flirtatious words.

“Are you ready?” He whispered to her, now only half a block away from school. She nodded determinedly, eyes lit up with resolve. He was taken aback, for a moment, because around him he was used to her being meek and shy. Sure, he had seen her braver moments -like during Nino’s filming- but not often enough.

He smiled, and marveled at how often he had grinned this morning alone. Maybe it was the joy (or thrill) of having another secret, or maybe it was teasing Marinette, or maybe it was the exaltation he got from holding hands ( _how warm, how secure, it made him feel wanted_ ), but all Adrien knew was that he was feeling happy and ecstatic.

So he swung their joined hands together a bit, feeling even happier when Marinette giggled and reciprocated, and together they waved at Alya and Nino, who were waiting at the front gates.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe just an interlude, but have some fluff and a bit of angst! Thanks for all the comments dears ♥ I would reply but I don't want to double the comment count and make it seem like I have more than I do. I appreciate every one and squeal with joy at your suffering (jk. not. maybe jk?)


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